Passengers stage sit-in on Viking Hellas flight at Birmingham Airport

Around 100 passengers staged a sit-in on a plane at Birmingham Airport following a dispute with the airline.

They refused to leave the Viking Hellas plane for several hours after their flight to Athens was disrupted.

Passengers refused to leave a plane at Birmingham Airport for several hours (PA)

The passengers were originally supposed to fly from Manchester at 13.00 BST but were instead taken to Birmingham by bus where a plane was scheduled to leave at 17.00.

However once on the plane they were told to get off again, leading to the sit-in, reports the BBC.

Eventually they disembarked the plane at 1.30 and returned to Manchester by bus.

A spokesperson for West Midlands Police, which sent officers onto the plane during the dispute, said: ‘It was just a civil dispute and the police were there monitoring the situation to make sure it didn’t get out of hand.’

A passenger, Dorota, told the news provider that they had become angry as they had not been given anything to eat since the morning and were getting overheated on the plane.

‘We decided to leave the plane because there was no point in staying on there,’ she said.

‘We are going home. We have got a letter from Viking Hellas and we can get a refund.’

Viking Hellas is yet to comment on the situation.

Earlier this month passengers were forced to sit on a plane bound for Mumbai for nine hours at Gatwick Airport after they were diverted from Heathrow due to fog.